The Ultimate Drill Down

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The Ultimate Drill Down

In the movieThe Core, Hilary Swank saved humanity by drilling to Earth's center. In reality, of course, that's impossible - and not just because Swank isn't the geologist type. Try as they might, actual scientists have yet to get through even the crust, the thinnest, outermost skin of the planet. It's just too deep.

Enter the Chikyu - a 689-foot-long, 57,550-ton ocean vessel. Chikyu means "Earth" in Japanese, and the ship's sole mission is to drill deeper than anyone has before: 6.2 miles down. After tests off the Japanese coast, researchers in June will head for deep Pacific waters, weigh anchor, and probe all the way to the mantle, that molten layer between the crust and the core. To accomplish this feat, Japanese engineers borrowed the riser drilling technology used on offéshore oil platforms. Chikyu's drill is protected by a sleeve that contains and recycles a shock-absorbing chemical mud. There's also a blowout valve to steady the drill if it strikes explosive oil or superheated rock as it drops through miles of crust.

Once they get down there, scientists hope to learn about the geologic forces that continually create and reabsorb Earth's crust. They also want to study deep rocks and mud, looking for records of ancient climate change and maybe undiscovered life-forms. And they'll plant sensors to monitor and potentially predict earthquakes. But for now, reaching the core remains a sci-fi dream: They'd have to drill 3,959 miles deeper to hit the center of Earth. Extraordinary as she is, even Chikyu can't do that.